Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc hands-on

Say what you will about Sony Ericsson -- and we've said plenty -- but damned if they don't know how to make phones. All problems aside with the previous Xperia phones running outdated versions of Android, the new Xperia Arc combines just the thinnest smartphone we've seen -- 8.7 millimeters -- with a 4.2-inch touchscreen and Android 2.3. Spec-wise, this is no slouch.

But this is SE we're talking about. And when we hear that it's running the Timescape user interface, we flinch. But we were very pleasantly surprised to find zero lag on the Arc, in stark contrast to the Xperia X10 we demoed here at CES a year ago.

We need to put this thing through its proper paces. But the camera is supposed to be great, and the hardware feels to be top-notch. We'll see, folks, we'll see.

HTC Thunderbolt RUU leaked, system dump posted

We got a tip that the RUU for the HTC Thunderbolt (check out our hands-on) has leaked out, and while we were breaking things down to be sure all was what it was supposed to be, the pulled system dump got dropped in the Android Central forums. It's a hell of a ROM, weighing in at almost 500 MB's worth of software, and we're 100 percent sure it's Bing free.

PlayStation Phone gets biggest close-up yet

Okay, so we've been seeing this device rumored for quite some time now. And its almost popped up every week since then. Whatever you wanna call it: the Xperia Play, the PlayStation Phone, the PSP Phone -- the point is, it's real, people. Only this time, Chinese website IT168 has spent a good amount of time with Sony's secret device (or not so secret). So good in fact, they decided to record gameplay footage, run benchmark tests, and even take side-by-side shots of the unit next to the PSP Go.

The device is said to be powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon QSD8255 processor, a Qualcomm Adreno 205 GPU, 512MB of RAM, and 512MB of ROM. The Chinese site also posted a shot of Necore running at a solid and nice 59.1fps. Not bad at all, considering the first video we saw it chugging along. The Quadrant number was also quite high at 1,733. It was also noted that all of this was running on Gingerbread, Android 2.3.

IT168 also revealed that the sleek device carried a 854 x 480 screen resolution sitting on top of a 4-inch LCD display. The Sony branded phone has a 1,500mAh battery, a 5 mega-pixel camera with LED flash, a microSD slot, SIM card slot, and a noise cancellation mic on the back.

Why didn't we see it at the Sony press conference on Wednesday? Does Sony have something in store for us, say, a seperate event? What do guys think? For all the videos and screens, hit the source link. [IT168 via Engadget]

We're barely a day into the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and we already have a baker's dozen Android phones, the Motorola Xoom tablet, more LTE than we can shake a stick at, AT&T suddently grew a pair of 4G big ones, and there's more on the horizen.
So join SPE editors Dieter Bohn, Phil Nickinson, Rene Ritchie and Kevin Michaluk, Android Central's Cory Streater and hosted by Mickey Papillon and Joey Koppes of The Cell Phone Junkie for the Greatest CES Podcast in the World -- Part 1!

Netflix for Android shows up on LG Revolution

While there has been no official announcement from anyone at Netflix, the Netflix for Android app is being showed off on the LG Revolution in this hands-on video from Unwired View. Because of connection issues in the convention hall (a few thousand technophiles will do that) we don't get to see it in action, but it's there. Now that the cat's out of the bag, you can bet we're on the lookout for any further info.

And yes, the more observant of you are seeing just what you think you're seeing -- Bing! Can't win them all. Hit the break for the video. [Unwired View's YouTube channel] Thanks Tascien!

Samsung and Comcast demo Xfinity app on the Galaxy Tab

During Samsung's CES Keynote Thursday, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts spent a little time with the Xfinity application, both on a smart TV and the Samsung Galaxy Tab. We've been told this was coming, and it looks really cool. Not only can you change the channel on your cable box, you can find content and watch it right on your Android device. Social media and live TV playback are coming soon, so it's likely the app will launch without either.

Speaking of launch, no details about when, or OS requirements were announced. Hurry Comcast, we've waited patiently long enough.

Hulu Plus announced for Android

Finally, it is coming people. Samsung is running a CES event right now and Hulu Plus was just announced for Android. We don't know any hard details like when it is coming or what minimum version of Android you will need, but we will update as soon as we know more. For now, jump past the break for another picture.

Update:Hulu has posted details on their blog, the important bits -- "...Hulu is working to bring the Hulu Plus subscription service to select Android phones (running Android OS 2.2), and gave the audience a sneak peek at the Hulu Plus Android app during the presentation. Hulu Plus will be available on select Android mobile phones in coming months; we’ll announce further details as soon as we have an official launch date and complete list of Hulu Plus-enabled Android phones."

LG Revolution First Look

One of the big three new devices Verizon saw fit to directly present at their press conference today was the LG Revolution. The handlers were pretty adamant we not put our grubby hands on their classy phones, but nevertheless watching them go through their paces gave off good impressions. As with the others, there wasn't a working Skype demo, but web pages loaded fast (4G LTE will do that) and rendered fast enough to keep us from feeling the lack of a dual-core processor.

First look at the HTC Thunderbolt

We've seen a number of leaks of the HTC Thunderbolt leading up to CES 2011. But to hold the Verizon 4G LTE phone in your hand certainly is electric. <Ducks!> Seriously, though. HTC knows how to make smartphones. Verizon knows how to serve up the high-speed data. And combine them in this 4.3-inch, 1GHz Sense device (and the new Sense, too!), and we've got one powerful beast.

You get Wireless hotspot. You get the Skype video chat. You get games. You get Android 2.2 with a promise to upgrade to Android 2.3.

Super AMOLED plus explained

Samsung has shown us two new high-end Android phones this week (so far!) at CES -- the yet unnamed Samsing 4G LTE phone for Verizon, and the Samsung Infuse 4G. Both have had what they are calling Super AMOLED plus screen technology. We dug around to find out the differences between Super AMOLED and Super AMOLED Plus, because that the kind of thing we do.

Super AMOLED plus increases the number of sub-pixels by 50 percent -- this means twelve sub-pixels instead of eight. This makes the screen even more visible in bright light, and should help make text and the edges of images crisper, while still keeping the gorgeous color that AMOLED displays provide. This is the kind of tech improvement that seems small, until you actually use one. Our fellas on the floor at CES are saying they look beautiful!

Screen tech is advancing at such a clip, what's "best" changes from day to day. But you're gonna love Super AMOLED Plus on this Sammy device, thanks to its increased subpixels. The total resolution is the usual 480x800, but there are 12 subpixels to every pixel, up from the usual eight. You need to see it.

Swype video calling also promises to be a big part of this guy. Verizon didn't have it up and running, and the demo video looked pretty standard.

Now about that name. It's pretty bland. But interestingly enough, the words Galaxy S were more than apparent during our demo. So we'll have to get that straightened out.

Samsung announces LTE-equipped Galaxy Tab coming to Verizon

Samsung was on stage at Verizon's CES press conference to announce that an LTE-equipped version of the Galaxy Tab will be hitting the carrier. It will feature the same specs as the previous Galaxy Tab but will be getting a new 1.2GHz processor. To recap, that means you are getting:

1.2GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird processor

7-inch TFT display at 1024x600

4G LTE radio

5 megapixel rear-facing camera

1.3 megapixel front-facing camera

Verizon was mum on pricing for both the devices and 4G plans and we have the vague "by the middle of the year" to go on for launch date. Check out the full press release past the break. [Android Central live blog, Samsung]

Skype and Verizon announce video calling on many of their 4G Android devices

Today, along with announcing their recent acquisition of Qik, Skype has also announced that they plan to bring video calling to a wide variety of 4G Android devices on Verizon. It has become obvious across mobile platforms that video calling is a feature that is in high demand, and Verizon and Skype wanted to ensure that they were not left behind with this; and to make sure they utilized the front and rear facing cameras to the max. Currently they expect this feature to be usable mid-2011, so while unfortunately not yet available, it is on its way!

Samsung and Verizon announce Samsung 4G LTE Smartphone

Verizon and Samsung have just announced a device with no name. Yes, you read that right. At this point the device is simply named Samsung 4G LTE Smartphone. The specs for this Samsung 4G LTE Smartphone look pretty sweet and it's the first device to market with Samsungs new Super AMOLED Plus display. It does however lack dual core and comes loaded with TouchWiz for better or worse but hey, no Bing.

HTC and Verizon announce the HTC Thunderbolt [update: specs]

Peter Chou from HTC takes the stage and unveils the HTC Thunderbolt, HTC's first LTE phone. Mr Chou says he has been using it as his personal device for a while, and "it's blazing fast". We're looking for full specs, for now we have the basics we did before -- 4G LTE, 4.3 inch screen, HTC Sense, and coming soon. More as we ferret it out. [Android Central LiveBlog]

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